Bob Due, of Terraced Gardens Farm, provided the butterball potatoes used in the menu. Here he is with his girlfriend, Rebecca Judy.
Alan and I had never been to The Plaid Apron in Sequoyah Hills, but we certainly had heard a lot about it. The so-called “Solstice Supper” benefiting Beardsley Community Farm seemed like a perfect opportunity to check it out.
So we grabbed our downtown friends, Gay and Bill Lyons, along with a couple of bottles of wine and we headed to our old neighborhood for dinner. And what a good time we had. We knew someone at almost every table, which made it even more fun.
The Plaid Apron, owned by Drew and Bonni McDonald, is committed to the farm-to-table movement. Everything they serve is as local as possible and the menu changes daily. The restaurant, located at 1210 Kenesaw Avenue in the heart of Sequoyah Hills, only serves breakfast and lunch, unfortunately. It is open from 7 a.m. until 3 p.m. We highly recommend it.
Beardsley Community Farm is a very cool urban demonstration site that has promoted food security and sustainable urban agriculture since 1998. The half-acre main site sits on the former grounds of Beardsley Junior High School. The farm also maintains 6.5 acres in a nearby public park.
Presently, Beardsley Farm has raspberry and blackberry brambles; muscadine grapes and blueberries; a young orchard of fruit and nut trees and a community garden. The Farm is maintained by a farm manager, a small team of CAC AmeriCorps members, and numerous volunteers from the Knoxville community. Click here for more information.
But now, back to the sold-out Solstice Supper!
Some of the folks at the dinner were Booth and Kurt Kammann, left, and Jill and Chris Van Beke.
Gay and Bill Lyons
The centerpieces were just perfect for the casual atmosphere of the evening.
Alan Carmichael enjoying a local brew -- served in a mason jar. Ha.
Joan and Victor Ashe were there.
Early Tomato Soup was the name of the first dish. It consisted of heirloom tomatoes, green tomatoes, bronze fennel, Swiss chard and purple basil. It was served chilled and was deeply flavorful and refreshing.
The homemade bread was toothsome and earthy.
Khann Chov, the farm manager at Beardsley, welcomed and thanked everyone.
The salad course was called Summer Squash. It contained squash, cucumber, day lily, arugula, tuxedo barley and was tossed with a smoked raspberry vinaigrette. It was tasty and filling and, I thought, was the most beautiful course.
I was happy to see our old pals Karen and John Kalec there!
The delicious and unusual entree was called Potato and Allium. It consisted of roasted butterball and red Norland potatoes, roasted garlic, Egyptian walking onion, a Beardsley egg, chips and jam. Loved it.
Gina and David Brace were celebrating their 11th anniversary at the event.
Chocolate and Beets was the name of the dessert. And, I have to admit, I wasn't crazy about the beet marshmallow, pictured at bottom left. But I did love the buttermilk chocolate, the roasted beet, the carbonated blueberries and the beet and sorghum in the middle of the plate. The carbonated blueberries gave a little burst in your mouth!
Lavender and Honey is what the cheese course was called. It featured honey from Beardsley, lavender and Blackberry Farm Singing Brook cheese. Yum.
David Collins and his date, Kirby Bell, stopped by to say hello.
Barbara Kelly, who heads up the Community Action Committee, left, with Khann Chov
The owners of The Plaid Apron are Drew and Bonni McDonald. Thanks, folks!
Here is Khann posing with the three AmeriCorps workers who were finishing up their assignments at Beardsley: Daniel Aisenbrey, Kat Raese and Karina Costa, right.
In addition to those from Terraced Gardens Farm and Blackberry Farm, other donations of food came from Colvin Family Farm and Hines Valley Farm.
It was a soothing, low-key evening. Try to snag tickets next year — I know we will, too.
What a great evening! Delicious, homegrown food is the trademark of the Beardsley Farm dinners–and they did not disappoint this year. The Plaid Apron was the perfect partner for this event. Was glad to hear Tomato Head is still the venue for the fall fundraiser, Raise the Roots. The winter event, Snow Day, held at Barley’s in the Old City, is great, too. If you attend these events, you not only support a great cause, Beardsley Farm, but you will have fun and enjoy great food. Bravo to all who made the Summer Solstice so delightful.
Thanks again to magic of the Blue Streak we can fondly recall a summer evening with great food and great company. Beardsley Farm does wonderful work.
Thanks for going with us, Gay and Bill. Gay, you are right about the other Beardsley fundraisers. They all are so much fun and just somehow have a gentle, wholesome vibe!
Gid and I saw Rebecca and Bob after this event and wished we had heard about it before
. FYI, Rebecca was one of Gid’s students.
They are such a cute couple, aren’t they, Georgiana?
Yes, they are.
Toothsome and earthy?
David: Yeah, you should have tasted it! (Actually, I just thought of the word toothsome and wanted to use it.)
How on earth did I MISS this??? I can tell by the comments and photos what a great time it was!!
Lesson learned, I hope…..
Glo: I think there might be one or two tix left for the Summer Supper this Saturday. Plus, if you are feeling lucky, we are giving away 2 free tix on the Moxley Carmichael Facebook page. You have to “like” Moxley Carmichael on Facebook and then follow directions on the page to enter drawing! You should give it a shot!
We also have some other great giveaways coming up later this month.
Will also let you know when next Beardsley fundraiser is. Just have found there is lot of overlap among supporters of Beardsley and Knox Heritage.
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